I worked in for a major DC firm in San Francisco. The T14 was well represented, but so were other in-state schools like Hastings (now UCSF?), UC Davis, UCLA, and USC. Once you were hired, no cared where you went to law school. They only cared about the quality of your work and, of course, whether you billed 2000+ hours annually. I can't speak for NYC firms though. But I recall that Munger Tolles in LA was known for focusing on the tippy top T14 schools and/or people who had prestigious circuit clerkships. (I would not have wanted to work there.)

Here's a sampling of associates (n=3193) at biglaw firms in NYC. Many biglaw firms allow you to sort the associates by law school. This sample includes Sullivan and Cromwell, Davis Polk, Cleary, Paul Weiss, Latham, Kirkland (New York office only).

Law schools with at least 100 grads:

Columbia 427 13.4%
NYU 363 11.4%
Harvard 285 8.9%
Fordham 153 4.8%
Georgetown 136 4.3%
Penn 125 3.9%
Cornell 120 3.8%
Duke 115 3.6%

Graduates of these 8 law schools make over just over half of the sample (54%).

Georgetown is also one of the largest law schools so you'll definitely see a lot of their grads both DC and NY.

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown used to be T14.

Also don't forget about Notre Dame, we have a SCOTUS from ND.

Fordham grads probably do a lot of contract review at the big law. Not the same as Columbia grads. Completely different tracks.

Georgetown sort of defines where the T-14 ends.

The reason law schools have a T-14 instead of a T-10 or T-20 is because Georgetown typically ranks around 14.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown used to be T14.

Also don't forget about Notre Dame, we have a SCOTUS from ND.

Fordham grads probably do a lot of contract review at the big law. Not the same as Columbia grads. Completely different tracks.

You’re wrong about Fordham. OP is clearly talking specifically about NYC. Fordham law has a good name and good placement in NYC Biglaw. They’re not doing contract work. They’re getting the same associate jobs as the Columbia grads, just not as many.

You obviously never went to law school. Contract review work is not equivalent to contract worker. You also never worked at a big law, in whatever capacity.

I suspect that neither of you have worked I Biglaw if you use the term "contract review" when you mean "document review" for discovery.

I’m the one this idiot/snob says never worked in Biglaw but now I think I get what he’s saying—that he “thinks” that the Fordham grads that the big New York firms are hiring along with the Columbia grads are getting shittier assignments from the get go. Or something like that. And he has zero way of knowing that or ever proving it.

They are wrong. Nobody has the time or leisure of mind to funnel all the "good work" to the harvard grads and all the 'scut work' to the fordham grads. Why bother even hiring those fordham grads if you're going to spend that much effort on managing them.

Where Harvard > Fordham is that you probably start with 0-1 count (no balls and 1 strike) if you are a fordham grad and a 2-0 count if you are a harvard grad.

The first time a harvard grad makes a mistake... well, everyone is human and mistakes happen.
The first time a fordham grad makes a mistake... I knew we shouldn't have him.

This wears off by their 3rd or 4th year but as a junior associate, you probably get more latitude for mistakes if you have a better degree.
And that pedigree follows you for life.
You will always be a harvard law grad.

The thing is that the harvard grad is probably middle of his class and likely to wash out before their 5th year, while the fordham grad is top 5% of their class and over the long run, more likely to succeed.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown used to be T14.

Also don't forget about Notre Dame, we have a SCOTUS from ND.

Fordham grads probably do a lot of contract review at the big law. Not the same as Columbia grads. Completely different tracks.

Depends on the practice. I know a lot of IP lawyers from Fordham in biglaw.

IP is a different story. An engineer with a law degree from any top 50 law school will get a job it's just a rare combination that is in high demand

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you think the Yale, Harvard and Stanford grads go after their clerkships? Elite govt jobs are mostly a nonstarter right now, and there are only so many academic positions. Most end up in BigLaw or comparable boutiques.

Not true at DOJ, specifically OLC and not true White House general counsel’s office. Those have been, and continue to be “the elite law govt jobs”, as you put it.

Ick. Gross.

What is wrong with you? What an insipid response

using words like ick and gross in this context makes them look exceptionally childish and immature.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where do you think the Yale, Harvard and Stanford grads go after their clerkships? Elite govt jobs are mostly a nonstarter right now, and there are only so many academic positions. Most end up in BigLaw or comparable boutiques.

Not true at DOJ, specifically OLC and not true White House general counsel’s office. Those have been, and continue to be “the elite law govt jobs”, as you put it.

Pretty true at DOJ where my kid’s offer for the DOJ Honors Program - the traditional entry level gateway to a career at Justice - was one of the very first programs completely eliminated by DOGE

Threads about the current law school admissions process and legal job market are replete with antiquated info from middle aged people who have no idea what they’re talking about

Many of us middle aged people are doing the hiring.

DOGE has destroyed federal hiring from top law schools for the forseeable future. Yanking offers after the normal recruitment window is exceedingly bad. We made a special effort to try and pick up some of these students but many of them gave up more lucrative opportunities to work for government and got screwed by the administration. I don't know that they all landed on their feet.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t go to Fordham Law myself but I always appreciated their alums. Usually smart, hardworking and blessed with common sense. I often host 3Ls at Per Se to check out the next crop for talent. Worth the meal.

You were doing great until the last sentence...

Exactly. Laughable

Fordham law has a big reach on dcum…

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t go to Fordham Law myself but I always appreciated their alums. Usually smart, hardworking and blessed with common sense. I often host 3Ls at Per Se to check out the next crop for talent. Worth the meal.

You were doing great until the last sentence...

About half of Fordham grads go to large firms. Cardozo and Brooklyn Law also do OK - maybe a fifth or a quarter.

It really just depends on the economy.

-2010 law grad

Fordham doesn't really have much of a reach outside of NY, so some DCUM-snobs wrongly assume that a "mere" regional school can't do well in NYC biglaw. It just happens to be a player in the biggest, most prestigious legal market.

What about Cardozo law school? It is also in NYC